Thomas Creevey, the son of William Creevey, a merchant sea captain,
was born in Liverpool on 5th March,
1768. William Creevey transported slaves from Africa and he made enough
money to send Thomas to a boarding school in London.
He was a good student and at seventeen went to Queens' College, Cambridge.
One of Thomas Creevey's uncles, James Currie, was active in Whig politics
and introduced him to Samuel Romilly and James Scarlett. Romilly liked
Creevey and helped him become a lawyer. Romilly was impressed by Creevey's
progress and arranged for him to meet Lord Petre, the patron of the
Thetford constituency. In 1802, Petre asked
Creevey to become his candidate at Thetford and at the age of thirty-four
entered the House of Commons.
Creevey became a strong supporter of Charles Fox
and the radical Whigs in Parliament. In 1806
the prime minister, Lord Grenville,
gave Creevey the position of Secretary to the Board of Control in
his government. Creevey lost the job when Grenville resigned in 1807.
In the House of Commons Creevey led the
fight against the railways. He accepted defeat in was one of those
politicians who was invited to the opening ceremony of the Liverpool
to Manchester Railway.
Creevey also lost his seat at Thetford but in 1820 he became the MP
for Appleby. Later he moved to the rotten
borough of Downton. When Lord Grey became
prime minister in 1830, he gave Creevey the post of Treasurer of the
Ordnance. Creevey loyally supported Grey's proposals for parliamentary
reform but as a result of the 1832 Reform Act,
Downton lost its right to send a MP to the House
of Commons. Thomas Creevey died in Greenwich on 2nd February,
1838.
(1)
Thomas Creevey,
letter to Miss Ord about the Duke of Wellington
and the passing of the Reform Act (26th May,
1832)
One more day will finish the concern
in the Lords, and that this should have been accomplished as it has
against a great majority of peers, and without making a single new
one, must always remain one of the greatest miracles in English history.
He (the Duke of Wellington) has destroyed himself and his Tory high-flying
association for ever. This (the Reform Act) has saved the country
from confusion, and perhaps the monarch and monarchy from destruction.
(2) Thomas Creevey, letter
to Miss Ord on Earl Grey and the passing
of the Reform Act (2nd June, 1832)
In the House of Lords yesterday
Grey, according to his custom, came, and talked with me. It is really
too much to see his happiness at its being all over. He dwells upon
the marvellous luck of Wellington's false move.
(3) Thomas Creevey, letter
to Miss Old on the passing of the Reform Act
(5th June, 1832)
Thank God! I was in at the death
of this Conservative plot, and the triumph of the Bill! This is the
third great event of my life at which I have been present, and in
each of which I have been to a certain extent mixed up - the battle
of Waterloo, the battle of Queen Caroline, and the battle of Earl
Grey and the English nation for the Reform Bill.
(4) Thomas
Creevey, journal entry (November, 1829)
Lady Wilton sent over yesterday
from Knowsley to say that the locomotive machine was to be upon the
railway at 12 o'clock. I had the satisfaction, for I can't call it
pleasure, of taking a trip of five miles on it, which we did in just
a quarter of an hour - that is twenty miles an hour. The machine was
really flying, and it is impossible to divest yourself of the notion
of instant death to all upon the least accident happening. It gave
me a headache which has not left me yet.
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